Chongsheng Temple of Dali
Source:Internet Author:Anonymous Tags:
Dali Yunan Temple Ming Dynasty
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| Article Guide:Built between 823 and 1108,the three pagodas at the Chongsheng Temple is 1.5 kilometers north of the ancient town of Dali.The main pagoda has 16-stories.It is a squarebrick structure with close eaves and hollow inside.It satands 69.13 meters.The other two octagonal pagodas flanking the maine pagda,one in the south and the other in the north,are ten-story stone and brick stuctures,each rising 42.19 meters above the ground. |
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The Chongsheng Temple was first built in the mid and late Nanzhao Kingdom when Buddhism began to flourish.During the Kingdom of Dali when Buddhism reached its heyday,Chongsheng Temple "covered an area of seven li,and had three pavilions,seven towers,nine halls,890 rooms and 11,400 Buddha statues".
During the Kingdom of Dali,nine of its kings abdicated in succession and became abbots in this temple.So,Dali was known at that time as the "Kingdom of Buddhism" or "Miaoxiang Kingdom" (Kingdom of Buddhist Sutras) while the splendid imperial Chongsheng Temple was renowned as the "Capital of Buddhism" and became the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia and a center for Buddhist cultural exchange.Between the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty,Chongsheng Temple had five important implements:Three Pagodas,Big Jianji Bell,Bronze Rain Statue of the Goddess of Mercy,the Yuan horizontal board inscribed with "Capital of Buddhism" ,and the Ming gold statue of "Three Saints."Xu Xiake recorded the grandeur and magnificence of this temple in his Travelogue when he visited Dali during the late Ming Dynasty.
He wrote:"The three pagodas stand like a tripod; the Bronze Rain Statue of the Goddess of Mercy is as tall as three zhang;the Big Jianji Bell is especially large and over one zhang in diameter and one chi in thickness,and its sound can be heard 80 li away."
